The present invention relates to the field of data processing and computing. More particularly, the present invention relates to managing and displaying discussion content in a collaborative data processing environment.
In a data processing environment, messaging among discussion participants can be accomplished by text or email messaging, online chat services, or through collaborative editing of electronic documents. These conventional methods have advantages and disadvantages, depending upon the circumstances. For example, email messaging provides an explicit record of each participant's contribution to a discussion, though it can be difficult to locate specific topics or information at a later time and the chronology of different contributions often becomes fragmented. The ability to access historic records is further limited in that each participant has access only to messages that were originally sent to or from that participant. Email messaging is generally also not implemented in real-time since downloads of a particular participant's incoming messages only occurs intermittently from a remote server. Chat services can overcome some of the drawbacks associated with email messaging, though chat can have its own drawbacks. For example, chat participants can have difficulty keeping track of discussions when they become involved of a number of different discussions. Files and other information shared by chat participants can also be difficult to access, organize and reference at a later time.
What is needed is an improved system and method for managing and displaying discussion content in a collaborative data processing environment.